The Eternaut Ending Explained: What Happened to Juan Salvo and the Other Survivors?
The Eternaut Ending Explained: CARE, SPOILER ALERT. Based on Héctor G’s iconic Argentine science fiction graphic novel. Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano Lopez in 1957, “The Eternaut” is an Argentine Netflix series that follows Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín) and his friends, who embark on a desperate journey for survival after a mysterious snowstorm ends the lives of almost all the inhabitants of Buenos Aires and leaves the few survivors trapped. But that is only the first attack by an alien army that intends to invade Earth. What happened to the protagonists? Do they manage to survive? The fiction created and directed by Bruno Stagnaro (“Okupas”) and co-written by Stagnaro and writer-actor Ariel Staltari (“A Rooster for Aesculapius”) begins with Clara (Mora Fisz), Tati, and Loli enjoying a small party on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. When the lights go out, the young women glimpse northern lights, followed by toxic snow. Clara takes refuge in time. During the trick night of Juan and his friends, an unusual snowfall causes a fuss in the city.
When the electrical power and communications are cut off, Ruso insists on going out to look for his family, even though it is clear that the snow is toxic. A few minutes after crossing the threshold of the door, he falls dead like the rest of the people outside. “The Eternaut” (2025), a free adaptation of the classic comic by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, places us in a Buenos Aires ravaged by a deadly snowfall of extraterrestrial origin. Juan Salvo, along with a group of survivors such as Favalli, Franco, Omar, Mosca, and Inga, tries to resist and understand the true scope of the alien invasion. As they move forward, they discover that they are fighting not only space beetles but also humans who have become complicit in that higher intelligence.
The Eternaut Ending Explained: What Happened to Juan Salvo and the Other Survivors?
After Inga’s arrival, a delivery woman who was trapped in Favalli’s garage, and the discovery that ancient things still work, the group of friends improvises a suit for Juan to face the snow and look for his ex-wife Elena (Carla Peterson) and her daughter Clara. After seeing the desolate city, several bodies in the streets, and some trapped survivors, Juan arrives at Elena’s building, where he draws the attention of his neighbors, who want to take his helmet from him. The protagonist of “The Eternaut” uses the gun his friend lent him to get out of trouble, and is rescued by Favalli, who managed to run a car. Back at Favalli’s house, the tension between the group intensifies to such an extent that Omar, the Russian brother-in-law, takes the vehicle. Meanwhile, Juan and Elena decide to start searching for their daughter. They come to school hoping to find some clue as to their whereabouts, but they only rescue an orphan boy, Pablo. On his journey, Juan discovers that human instinct can be as lethal as toxic snow. In addition, he has strange visions that take him back to his time as a soldier in the Falklands War and to the future.
After the couple returns to Tano’s house, Juan decides to take another excursion downtown, and Tano Favalli offers to accompany him. They find a barricade and the military, but they are not of great help. Later, the duo encounters a repulsive threat, huge bugs that threaten to exterminate them, and confirm the alien invasion. Juan and Tano survive thanks to the help of a very peculiar group. In that refuge, they meet Omar, who, after fighting and surviving the bugs together with the protagonists of “The Eternaut”, returns with them to Favalli’s house, where Juan finds a surprise: his daughter Clara. They found them.
What Happened to Juan Salvo and the Rest of the Survivors?
After seeing the huge bugs and what they are capable of, Tano points out that the best option is to go to Tigre Island, where he has a house. To reach his destination, together with Juan and his family, he agrees to deliver his house and garage in exchange for a motor home. Along the way, they meet an organized group that takes refuge in a supermarket. Everything is going well until they are attacked by armed people. After Juan and the rest control the situation, Lucas, who was missing, arrives with a group of soldiers offering his help. Survivors are transferred to Campo de Mayo, where they receive basic military training. However, not everything is safe, since one of the military, Moro, is an infiltrator who is on the side of the alien bugs.
Although Juan and Tano insist on resuming the plan to go to the island, their wives pressure them to stay there and join the military mission of going downtown to send a radio signal with a message of hope and refuge. In addition to Juan and Favalli, Omar, Igna, and Pablo are part of the mission. They achieve the main objective but lose a lot in the process. Pablo and Inga separate from the group, and Lucas commits suicide. Furthermore, a mysterious bright light attracts John and leads him to an unimaginable discovery: soldiers and survivors are allied with alien bugs. They are all controlled by something more sinister: a being with many fingers. At the end of “The Eternaut”, Juan Salvo realizes that he has strange visions, and he thinks he remembers the machinist. He assures that he has lived through all that. Are you caught in a time loop? Do aliens control it too? Clara joins the army, even though her father refused. Does it mean that it is also being controlled? His erratic behavior and mental gaps indicate yes. There are still many unanswered questions, so will there be a season 2?
The True Enemy
In the last episode, Juan and his group try to use a radio tower to contact other survivors and alert them that Campo de Mayo is a haven. What they don’t know is that they are falling into a trap. Some humans have already been mentally controlled by aliens, such as Lucas, who turns against his companions and dies after critically confessing his betrayal. The final attack is carried out by a horde of clones and controlled humans, forcing Juan, Franco, and the rest to flee. But the hardest blow comes to the end: Carla, Juan’s daughter, has also been cloned and appears firing a rifle as one of the alien swarms.
Is Carla a Replicant? John’s Emotional Dilemma
Carla is not simply a puppet; she maintains some memories and emotions, making his condition even more painful for Juan. Their clone is part of a larger strategy: infiltrate human resistance from within, turn them into soldiers without will. Juan’s final gesture, seeing her act as an enemy, makes it clear that personal pain and global threat are hopelessly intertwined.
The Symbolic Keys of the Mural and The Time Loop
One of the most intriguing moments at the end occurs when Juan hallucinates in front of a mural full of symbols: beetles, a moon, a burning tower, a staircase, snakes, Saint George … Everything points to an eternal cycle, a kind of temporal loop that Juan himself feels he has already lived. The series suggests that aliens not only invade but restart the conflict over and over again, and John is the anomalous factor that always escapes them.
Political Reading: Dictatorships, Betrayals and Memory
“The Eternaut” is full of historical allusions. The idea of humans betraying their species is reminiscent of Latin American dictatorships, especially Argentina, where many collaborated with the repressors. The use of mentally controlled clones refers to ideological alienation. The reference to the Falklands War and the fall of dictatorships connects the past with the current fight against a new type of invader: the one who erases identity and turns your loved ones into tools of the enemy.
What Can We Expect From Season 2?
With a completely open ending, it is evident that the creators plan to continue the story. Juan and Franco promise to search for Inga and Grandote, although the chances of them remaining human are slim. In Campo de Mayo, survivors are unaware that they are surrounded by clones like Carla. The radio broadcast that invites you to go camping should be stopped, as it has become a trap. And if John must choose between saving Carla or humanity, the series promises an ethical conflict of epic proportions.
